Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) spin bowling coach Malolan Rangarajan has dismissed criticism over the franchise's title drought and comparisons with England's underperforming men's football team. Speaking ahead of RCB's final IPL 2025 group match against Lucknow Super Giants, Rangarajan insisted that the team's past doesn't weigh on the current squad, which he believes is far more balanced and focused than previous line-ups.
00:00It is a fact that we lost the last game after a big break and it is down to a lot of reasons.
00:07Not having played in the last three weeks, being a little rusty and it has been documented very well that it was a good knock on the chin for us.
00:16A good wake up call and now looking forward like we always do, we are always looking at the next game.
00:21Even though we have guaranteed a place in one of the playoff games, it is important to focus on LSD and what is going to happen in the Akana Stadium tomorrow.
00:29That is what we are focusing on, how best we can start bowling, how can we put pressure back on the opponents.
00:35So, we will be focusing on that and once that is done, we will look at how and who we play in the play-offs.
00:42Hazelwood has returned, so how would he go off a boost as a player?
00:48There is no doubt about how good Hazelwood is as a player and what great impact he has had for us.
00:56But it is also important to remember in his absence, we have played two games, we have won one and we have lost another.
01:03Lunghi had filled in very well and we believe in the strength of the whole squad.
01:09There is Nuwan Tushara who is chomping at the bits and even people forget that we have a very talented Indian pace bowler in Rasik Salaam.
01:18So, while we are very very happy about Hazelwood coming back to the squad, we and everybody needs to remember the quality that is existing within our playing squad.
01:30So, next one week is going to be very effective. It is going to be Chandigarh, then Kandala.
01:40After you know that sudden activity, how are the players going to take this rush, sudden rush?
01:48I think the IPL schedule that we had, we played a lot of games already, where we had a very generous start, where we had a lot of break and then there was a period in which we were playing back to back games with a lot of travel.
02:06So, the boys are used to it. The other thing is, while we haven't played in the last, before the last game, we hadn't played in the last three weeks, the boys have been together now.
02:15Ever since the break happened, we have been together for about a week or more now. So, they are used to it.
02:20And the good thing about the group we have is they are very honest individuals. The conversations that happen within the four walls are very honest.
02:27They are aware of what happens between this game and the next game, what the travel is. They are all professional players.
02:33So, everybody is aware. We have got an excellent science and medicine team who is taking care of the boys. So, everything is in place.
02:40And like I said, I would like to take you back to what we are focusing on at the moment. It is tomorrow. Today is our practice session.
02:47We will focus on got to prep for tomorrow. We will get done with tomorrow and we will see how that takes it forward.
02:52I think Chinnaswamy did pose a few challenges for us in the initial part of the session.
02:59I think Chinnaswamy did pose a few challenges for us in the initial part of the session.
03:17Not only us as cricketers, even experts thought that the pitch would behave in a certain way. We were caught in that challenge in the first couple of games.
03:31And I think the last two games we played there, we turned the tide. We figured out a way as to what was an effective way of approaching the game, both with the bat and ball.
03:40So, I think that stands testament to the group of players we have. Every time they have been posed with a challenge, they are able to take honest and constructive feedback and they are able to work on it.
03:52So, as far as the away game, for us every game is a game. It so happens that we won six on the road and tomorrow we are going to be playing our seventh designated home game.
04:05And again, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, we are focusing on tomorrow, what it takes to beat LSD and what we need to do to put pressure on the opponent.
04:15The last two questions.
04:17The question is, one thing is that the FIFA football group has been in England with the team.
04:25But after the last couple of years, they have not been able to become a champion and their fans.
04:31The league-based situation has been in the IPL. So, is there any pressure that you have not been able to become a champion or do you want to make a good match?
04:40No sir, England has won the World Cup, but RCB has not won. So, there is no pressure for us.
04:45In 1960, George Best had won.
04:48So, his pressure is to win.
04:5060 for England.
04:5160 for England.
04:52Yes.
04:53So, his pressure is to win.
04:54And the truth is that we do not win.
04:58That is true. We do not win.
04:59And according to that, we have seen what we can do to become a more consistent and better team.
05:05Now, in the past 5-6 years, you can see that RCB has become a consistent franchise.
05:10Now, in this year, the people who were talking about, maybe there is a bit of bad or not, I do not know.
05:17But the people who were saying that our batting was very good and didn't say anything.
05:21It seems that we have taken a balanced team, which gives our output a bit of balance.
05:27So, our thoughts are, like all teams, who are winning.
05:33What has happened in the past, is not the responsibility of the player.
05:37The responsibility of the player is today and tomorrow.
05:41So, if we win, it will be good.
05:44But I know everyone.
05:46We know one player.
05:47And what we want to do and what we want to do, everyone knows.
05:50So, there is no pressure for us.
05:52We don't have to do it.
05:53We don't have to do it.
05:54Because we think that we want to play.
05:57And as I am not able to translate it in English, we can put pressure on the opponent.
06:02That's what we think.
06:03Last question.
06:04After the last match, Phil Sorg said that RCB will lose things right in the chase.
06:12Until the 15th over, it looked like RC will chase it out.
06:15So, having played that match, and he said that an analysis would be the match.
06:20So, having played that match here at the same ground, and having analysed that match, do
06:28you think that the team is well prepared for tomorrow's team?
06:31What was, I mean, if you can tell us a few minutes about what came of the analysis, what
06:38the team has done from it?
06:40I understand your question.
06:43See that, I think what Salty was referring to was how we function as a team.
06:48After every game, we sit down, like I said, we have our honest conversations, constructive
06:52feedback.
06:53What we need to understand and where Salty is coming from is, when you are chasing 230, all
06:59you can ask from a batting unit is to set it up in a way where we are looking to chase
07:0560 runs for the last five hours.
07:07And beyond that, whatever happened, I think it was, we certainly could have done better.
07:12But again, I am not going to dwell into the result of what happened.
07:16We could have reacted better.
07:18We had a few issues that we had to deal with.
07:20And as far as what came out of the meeting, hopefully you will see that on the ground tomorrow.
07:25Like we had a few challenges in Chinaswamy when we played the first few games, I think
07:31we have thought of ways we can address what had gone wrong.
07:36And the challenges that were posed in Chinaswamy were completely different to the challenges
07:41that we faced the last game.
07:4365 of 30, usually with the batters we have, we are looking to chase it down, a freak run
07:47out, Shepi getting out first ball.
07:50So it wasn't like somebody took the game and we threw the game.
07:53And after that we had only the lesser known batters to come in.
07:57So not a lot was discussed in that frame, but a lot about how we want to play was discussed.
08:04And hopefully we are able to put that on display tomorrow.
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